Argentina picks first lady as next president

Argentina's first lady was today celebrating after she was elected as president with a landslide victory.

It paves the way for the country's most powerful political dynasty since Juan and Evita Peron.

Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner claimed victory in yesterday's election as official results showed her having well over 40 per cent of the vote and a big lead over her closest rival, enough to avoid a run-off vote next month.

"This is a triumph for all Argentines," Mrs Kirchner told cheering supporters at her campaign bunker in a Buenos Aires hotel. "Instead of putting us in a position of privilege, it gives us bigger responsibilities and greater obligations."

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If confirmed by the full count, she will succeed her husband Nestor Kirchner after what was largely a referendum on his economic successes. The Kirchners are Argentina's undisputed power couple and have been called "the Clintons of the South".

Mrs Kirchner, a 54-year-old lawyer, is one of her husband's key aides and a veteran senator. Voters weary of Argentina's repeated boom and bust cycles said they hoped she would follow the economic course set by her husband.

With Mr Kirchner at her side, she said: "We have repositioned the country, fought poverty and unemployment, all these tragedies that have hit Argentines," she said, referring to the country's recovery from an economic crash in 2001.

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South America's second largest economy has expanded at China-style rates after Mr Kirchner came to office four years ago. Growth has reached eight per cent a year, driven by strong consumer spending and agricultural exports.

"Cristina is going to follow in Kirchner's footsteps," said housewife Betty Cuadros, 54. "She's going to do what he hasn't been able to do yet and take the country forward."

With results in from almost two-thirds of polling stations early today, Mrs Kirchner had 43.6 per cent support, followed by former beauty queen Elisa Carrio, who had 22.6 per cent and conceded defeat. Ms Carrio, of the centre-Left Civic Coalition, was running on an anti-corruption platform and promised to reduce economic inequality.

Mrs Kirchner ran an unorthodox campaign, refusing to debate and spending much of the time abroad with world leaders. Her designer outfits drew comparisons with Evita Peron, another Argentinian first lady.

Mrs Kirchner will be Argentina's second female president: Isabel Peron, who married Juan Peron after Evita's death, was his vicepresident when he died in 1974, and served for 20 chaotic months before she was ousted by a military coup.